From Within the Ghosts' of the Twins
by hielnaraku
Summary: Having had many cases in Japan, Conan and the gang decide to take a vacation in America with help with an old friend of Dr. Agasa. However, when a murder is committed at one of New York's most famous landmarks, it will turn to be anything but a vacation.
1. Prologue

James had his hands up high. He never thought it would come to this. With such a great even coming up, he thought they would wait till after the event. However, he still found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol. He looked up at the two men. One was wearing a dark, black hat and dark sunglasses. He was wearing straight black from his full suit to his nice shoes. However, he wasn't holding the gun. The man who was had to be straight out of hell itself. He too was wearing a black hat, it partially covering the long, silver like hair. The gleam of hatred in his eyes was such that it could send fear into any who looked into them. The rest of the outfit was similar to his partner.

"You don't want to do this." James said, looking back at the one holding the gun. The man smiled. "Really, why not?" He asked. He looked out the window behind them. The Statue of Liberty looked austere under the spot lights. To the east, the first signs that dawn was approaching hinted at the horizon. "Simple," James responded. "You realize where we're at, don't you?" The man with the silver hair smiled. He would let James live a little longer. Time wasn't of the essence. "Yea," he said. "So what?"

"So what?!" James said, incredulous. "So what? You realize the date! You realize the importance of this building! The investigation will be on a size you have never seen." "Anaki, he's telling the truth. America isn't like Japan in it's investigations." said the man in the sunglasses. There were hints of genuine worry on his face. "Relax. There will be no problems." Without warning, the pistol went off. James fell back-words through the window he had been leaning against, and fell to his death, some hundred stories below. He was dead before he hit the ground. The man with silver hair smiled as the sun finally broke the range of the horizon, causing the tower of freedom of glow like it was the sun. On the other side of the world, a young boy yelled as he jumped out of bed. There was cold sweat rolling down his face. He was having a hard time breathing. He took off his glasses in order to wipe the sweat of his face. The boy was worried, and not for the first time. The nightmare had returned.


	2. The Arrival

A note from the Author: Hey just letting you all know that this chapter is going to be slow. Decided to have them get comfortable before sending in chaos. Also, Since we never had an actual English translation of Miyano Shiho (last name, first name), I decided to go with Sarah Matthews(yea, I went with the English version of their names. Deal with it.). If anyone has a better name, I'm all ears. Oh and, don't be expecting the rest of the chapters to come out this quick.

* * *

Conan smiled as he walked out into the sunlight outside of La Guardia Airport Terminal in New York City. The September air was wonderful at a 76 degrees Fahrenheit with the sun shining on the six year old. His short, black hair seemed unaffected by the slight breeze. A pair of glasses framed his large, blue eyes. "Oh it feels good, doesn't it Conan?" Conan looked up and smiled at Rachel. Rachel Moore was a beautiful 17 year old brunette. He hair ran down below her shoulder, giving her a look of pure innocence. But don't be fooled, having taken karate for years, she could lay just about anyone out. "Yea, it is great." said her father. Richard Moore, Rachel's father and Conan's guardian, looked up into the clear blue sky. "This vacation is going to be awesome. That is, unless your friends cause problems, Conan." said Richard, looking at Conan.

"We won't be a problem." came a chorus of voices from behind. Conan, Rachel and Richard turned and looked at the rest of group. George, Mitch and Amy were coming out of the building. Anita was right behind them. They were all in Conan's grade. George was the largest of the four, in more ways then one. At first look, Mitch was the smartest of them, with a fascination with all things science. They both had a crush on Amy, the smallest of the group. Amy though being small, probably had the biggest spirit of them. She also had a crush, but it was on Conan. Anita was probably the most mysterious of the four.

"They'll be fine." Dr. Agasa had finally caught up with the group. The balding bachelor was an inventor by trait. He was also the legal guardian on the trip for George, Mitch, and Amy. He was already the guardian for Anita. "They better be." said Richard. "I don't want any problems. By the way, when is your friend coming?" he asked Agasa. "When I called him just now, he said he would be here in a couple of minutes." was Agasa's response. Anita walked up to Conan. "It's nice to get away from everything, isn't it." She said in a low voice to Conan. Conan turned and nodded. He knew that for Anita, being in America would probably be safer for her. She wasn't you average six year old. Then again, she wasn't actually six. Really, her name is Sarah Matthews, age 17. She used to work for an organization known for their choice of the color black and their names hidden with Alcohol. In fact, her nickname had been Sherry.

However, after the death of her sister at the hands of the organization, she had rebelled against it. Taking an experimental poison she had created by accident, she hoped to die painlessly. Instead she shrunk to the person she was now. She is still on the run, the organization still after her.

Conan knew all of this too well for he himself was not as he should be. His real name was Jimmy Kudo, high school detective. While at a theme park with his childhood friend Rachel, he noticed an illegal deal going down with a man dressed in black. However, he had been so distracted that he missed another of the men in black coming up behind him. He had been forced the same experimental poison as Anita would end up taking, and also instead of dying, he had shrunk. After discussing it with Dr. Agasa, it had been agreed to that no one could no his secret. When pressed for a name by Rachel, he had invented Conan Edogawa. He ended up going to live with her and her father Richard. With the help of a few inventions by Agasa, he had turned the second rate private eye Richard into a very well known detective. All the while he waits for the time he can take down the men who shrank him.

As Conan was thinking all this, Agasa looked and said, "There's my old friend." They all turned to see a long, white van coming and pulling up. The man inside opened the door and stepped out. He was tall, with short red hair and piercing blue eyes. There was a smile on his face as he came over to greet them. "It's been awhile Doc. I think I have enough room in the van." he said. Agasa smiled and turned to the rest of them. "Guys, I would like you to meet John Thomas. A good friend of mine and current head of the New York City division of the FBI." said Agasa. "John, I would like you to meet..." Agasa started to continue before John interrupted and said, "Famous Detective Richard Moore, I've heard about you." John reached out to shake Richard's hand, which Richard excepted. "Really? Good to know." said Richard. John then turned to look at Rachel. "And this beautiful young women must be Rachel." said John, as he reached down and kissed her hand. Rachel blushed and nodded. Conan gave no outward reaction, but he was a little jealous. John then turned to the rest of them. "And you must be the Junior Detective League I've heard about it." he said smiling. "Yep, that's us!" said Amy. "We're the best!" answered George. "We solve all sorts of crimes." chimed in Mitch. Conan couldn't help but groan at this. "I should have never allowed this to start in the first place" he thought.

"What's the FBI?" George finally asked, unable to wait much longer. John had a fake look of shock on his face. "What, Agasa didn't tell you about the FBI?" he turned to look at Agasa, who chuckled and looked down at the kids. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, is what can be called America's Police Force." "Exactly!" commented John. "Now, I know you kids know what INTERPOL, or ICPO is, don't you?" he asked. "Yep!" Amy, George and Mitch chimed in unison. "Well," John continued. "the FBI is kind of like the U.S. Version of INTERPOL." "How's that?" asked Anita. John turned to look at Anita. "INTERPOL works over a group a nations." she started. "And the FBI is only in America, which is one nation." Conan concluded. John just smiled at them, unnerving Anita. "Actually, if you think about it, Europe is just one country under the European Union. And besides," he continued, smiling, "the FBI has more offices world wide then INTERPOL does. There is even an FBI building in Japan." Conan was caught off guard by this, and started wondering if the orders to hunt the Black Organization came from the main office in America, or if the local Japanese office gave the order. The answer to that could say how far the FBI had been infiltrated by the organization. Anita leaned over, and almost like she was reading his mind, said "the order probably came from the main office. To much risk of corruption if it came from the local branch." Conan nodded. It made sense. John looked up and with one hand pointing towards the van, said "Alright, lets load up! Don't want to stay at the Airport forever." Everyone hopped in the van and away they went.

Agasa turned to John and said, "So, do you still live in the duplex in Manhattan?" John smiled and said "nope, won the lottery last spring. I live east of Queens out in the Roslyn Estates now." After the quick trip down the Grand Central Parkway, John turned left onto Northern Boulevard. Looking into the Rear view Mirror, he smiled and said, "If you look out your windows, you'll see Queens, which is considered the middle class of New York City. When we pass over the bridge you'll notice the fact that we are entering one of the upper class areas of New York. After passing over the bridge, Conan couldn't help but agree in the different classes. Everything on this side of the bridge seemed to have a more upper class feel to it. After a few more minutes, they turned left off of the main road and on to a side road, seemingly full of trees. "It's like we're driving into a forest!" Amy commented. John smiled and commented "A lot of upper scale area's in the U.S. are known for the woods that are set up in and around."

After a bit of wandering, John finally pulled up next to a three story house. "Is that your car?" Asked Richard, pointing out the dark blue Ford Mustang in the driveway. "Yep, that's mine!" John answered. "Wait, you won the lottery, and you didn't by a Ferrari?" asked Mitch. "I'm mean, there are a lot of cool, expensive cars. Why didn't you buy them?" John just started laughing as he put the van in park and turned off the engine. "Because I didn't need anything that classy or expensive. That'll just invite someone to steal it. The Mustang works just fine." John walked up to the front door while everyone else was piling out of the van. "I think you'll find that it's not much different here in the U.S. then it was in Japan." John commented as he unlocked and opened the front door.

To Conan, it really didn't look that much different then the mansion back home. Rachel must have been thinking the same thing because she commented, "Wow, this looks a lot like Jimmy's place." "Ah, and who's Jimmy?" asked John. Rachel tried to hide a blush as she said, "he's a childhood friend of mine who lives in a mansion. I haven't seen him in a while though. Oh, and his father is Booker Kudo." John, who admittedly was only partly listening, perked up when Rachel mentioned Booker Kudo. "Wait, do you know Booker Kudo?" he asked "Yea, I sort of do." Rachel replied. "You are so lucky. I'm a fan of his books." Conan groaned inwardly. "Another crazy fan." he thought. John led them into a massive library, very similar to what was in the Kudo mansion. Conan looked up, and realized that this room was the height of the house.

"Goodness John, have you read all of these books?" asked Agasa. "Amazingly enough, I have." replied John, to the general amazement of the group. John pointed out "there is a platform on each level so that one doesn't have to clime the entire height of the building to get a book." "Why in the world do you have all these books?" asked Richard. Conan couldn't help but give him a look of disgust. The old man did little in between cases besides gambling and drinking. "Well," John started to respond, "besides the fact that they are good books, I have them organized by type of crime committed. That way, if I have a case that I have a hard time with, I can check one of the books for possible clues." Conan looked at John with a mixture of surprise and respect. "So he's actually quite smart." he thought. "However, I think the little one's will like what's out back." John said.

He lead them to the back door, where outback it was a virtual forest. Bird's of different kinds were singing, squirrels and chipmunks were talking, and Butterflies of every type were flying around. "I just walked into a dream." Conan thought. "Amazing, isn't it." John said, smiling at all their stunned faces. "How in the world did you manage this?" asked Richard, looking around in surprise. "You'll be surprised how far a little bit of food and a lot of love go." John said. "Now, everyone, hold out your hands." When everyone had, he put a little bit of food in each hand. "Now go out and have fun." He, Richard and Agasa smiled as Conan and the gang were surrounded by the animals, each animal trying to get to the food. "It's good to be happy." Conan thought, smiling and the different squirrels going after the food in his hand. When heard someone laughing he turned to see Anita complete covered in squirrels and chipmunks, and loving it. Conan smiled, realizing this was probably the first time she had ever felt completely safe.

While watching them, John brought out his old barbecue and fired it up. After completely filling the grill with hamburgers and hot dogs, he started whistling, enjoying his work. After a while the smell wafted all over the backyard, bring George in for a closer look. "You're cooking for us!" he said, looking at the food and smiling. "Why not. I think that while in the U.S., you should have food born in the U.S." John smiled. He went inside and brought out plates and cups which he put on a picnic table that he had out there. After going inside to grab pitchers of water and lemonade, he called everyone to sit down to eat. He smiled while watching George, Mitch, and Amy dig in to the food that he had prepared. Rachel, who had started eating, asked if it was common do eat like this. "Oh very common," John replied. "During much of the summer and even into the fall, it is common to eat outside. Gives us time to enjoy the weather." Agasa smiled as he added. "If you think this is unusual, you should see what they do before an American football game." John laughed and explained. "Before the game, fans of the teams gather in parking lots surrounding the stadium, where in the thousands they eat." George's eyes bugged out at this last bit, "Wow, those must be some long food lines." John chuckled and said, "No no no, everyone brings their own food, and its done in small groups, usually around the back of a pickup truck. Which is where the term tailgate party comes from." Conan smiled and took another bite of his hamburger.

"And I thought I had learned a lot the last time I was here." he thought. "It sounds like a giant party," Richard commented. "It is." John said. "What's great is depending on the team, that team may march through the parking lots before the game. It's a good way to raise morale before a big game." Conan, deciding that he had been quiet way to long for a kid, asked. "What's the most famous stadium here in America?" John frowned, and after a bit of thinking, said. "Well, it depends. If we're talking baseball, it would be Wrigley field, home to the most cursed team in baseball. The cubs haven't won the series since, what, 1907? ... Yea, and if your talking about the NFL, there is quite a few, to many to mention. Same goes with college football. Too many famous stadiums." "Is there one that stands out more?" asked Rachel. "Well, in college football," John started, "the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena California is one. Almost everyone has heard about it. And maybe the Cowboys stadium in Dallas, Texas would work for the NFL. Plasma screens almost as large as a two story house hang from the ceiling there." John thought, before, "I believe they have way to much money there." Nobody else had heard that last comment, as they were all imagining what two story TV screens would look like. "Wow, that would be totally awesome." George said. "Think of the degree of detail." Mitch chimed in. "It would be beautiful." added Amy. "And expensive, think of all the money it would take." said Richard. Conan just shied and thought, "Some Americans have way to much money."


	3. The Flashback

Author's Notes: Hey, second chap here. if you haven't noticed, ive started adding titles to the chapters in the lists. Also, i know i'm going to hear about it, so i'm saying it now. Just because I mention NCIS and Agent Fornell, doesn't mean this counts as a crossover. This is the only chapter they will be mentioned, and it's in a flash back. So it's not a crossover. Though if you want, after this story is over in a few months, i can start writing one if you want.

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As diner wrapped up, John took out a pipe, and lit it up. After a few puffs, Richard asked, "Wait, we can smoke?" "Go ahead, light up. I don't care." said John, causing Richard to pull out his cigarettes and light up. "Just remember not to light up in any public or federal building, for it's against the law." Richard nodded. "Isn't it unhealthy it smoke?" asked Anita. John frowned before answering. "Yea, it is. However, it helps me think, calms the nerves, and keeps the headaches from being anything more than a dull roar." John took a puff from his pipe before continuing. "Actually, that's why I think Sherlock Holmes smoked." Conan thought and couldn't help but find what John said plausible. "If you want, I can show you why I started smoking in the first place." he said, putting out his pipe." "Sure," said Richard, catching everyone else off guard. "Very well, then, if we just throw away the plates, I'll show you to my study." "Shouldn't we put everything else away as well?" asked Rachel. "Don't worry about it." John replied. "Everything else is completely harmless for the creatures to eat." Rachel nodded and followed as John lead everyone inside and into his study. After digging in a file cabinet for a while, he pulled out a file stamped "Dangerous!" John put it on the desk and opened it, turning it so that everyone could see it. "This is a case we know as Pandora's Box. It happened nearly eight years ago. I happened to have just been promoted to head director of the New York City division of the FBI, and was enjoying it when my phone rang..."

**(Flashback)**

John was sitting there, absolutely thrilled to be sitting in the head desk. Though it meant less leg work, he could finally make the changes he felt were needed. When the phone rang, picked it up and answered, almost cheerfully, "Director of the FBI, New York City Branch, how may I help you?" "Hey John, it's me Jake." came the voice from the phone. "Hey Jake, you know I'm your own boss now, and therefore should call me such?" John pointed out. "True Then, shouldn't you be calling me Agent Shelly, shouldn't you?" said the voice. "True, but I detest that last name." was John's reply. "No argument here." came the voice from the phone. "So why did you call?" asked John, leaning back in his chair. "We have an arson case that may be linked to one that happened in New Jersey." said Jake. "Interesting, but not enough to warrant a call to my desk, is it?" John asked. "Normally, that's true. However, like the previous case, it was a pharmaceutical factory, it happened during the weekday, and nobody was there." finished Jake. John's ears had perked up at the last part. "Today's not a holiday, right?" he asked Jake. "Nope." was the response. "I'll be there in thirty minutes." said John getting his jacket on. "Wait, do you think it's necessary?" asked Jake. "Maybe, maybe not. Still, I want to have a look." John replied, before hanging up.

**(Pause Flashback)**

"Couldn't it have been a company holiday?" interrupted Rachel. "We thought that at first,"said John "but strange murders started popping up."

**(Continuing Flashback)**

"Another body has been found." Jake said. He posted a picture onto an already cluttered post board. "He was found murdered in his house by a family member checking in on him." John groaned. "That makes seven from the factory here in New York, 12 from the New Jersey factory. All with no evidence." Jake finished. "What in the world is going on here." asked Carol, another agent, looking at all the pictures. "That's what the folks down in the Hoover building are wanting from me." said John, shaking his head. "This doesn't make any sense." said Carol. "Hey, forensics may have found something." said Shawn, getting up from a desk. "Well there's some good news." said John. "What is it?" "Well," Shawn started, getting a paper that had just printed. "They found this car racing away from of the scenes at the time of the murders." he continued, posting an image of a black car on the board. "They have also found out that it was within a four block radius of both of the fires." Shawn finished. "Any clue, who they are?" asked John. "The license plate is running now." Shawn replied. Suddenly, the phone in John's office rang. "That'll probably be Washington, calling for an update." John said as he walked to the office and picked up the phone. "Agent John Thomas, Director of the New York City branch of the FBI speaking." he said. "This is Agent Smith of the CIA calling on why you are running that plate." said a voice from the phone. John was stunned to get a call from the CIA, but that dropped quickly. "Why does Langley want to know what we are doing?" He asked. "It's part of an official investigation. That's all you need to know. Now, we will have a plane in New York City tomorrow. Place all the evidence involved into the plane..." started Smith, before John interrupted. "Now hold on here. I am not ever going to be taking orders from Langley. Not now, not ever. Now, goodbye." he said, slamming the phone back on the receiver. The rest of the crew had joined him in his office by this time. "What's up?" asked Jake. "That was Langley wanting me to turn over the case to them." John replied, sitting down in his chair. "I hope you said no." said Carol, a look of disgust on her face. "Yep. I hope we just don't have to deal with them." John said. Once again, John's phone rang. Instead of giving his normal speech, he just simply said, "Hello?" Without warning, John instantly straitened up. "Sir, yes sir." he said after a few moments. Placing the phone back on the receiver, John looked up at the rest and said, "Well, that was the director calling." "Wait, our head director?" asked Jake, surprised. "Yep. He is personally sending a plane for me and the evidence. They want it in back in Washington so they can have some say against the boys at Langley." "Makes sense after that call from the CIA you got." said Shawn. "True. Well in any case, we better get everything packed up. The plane will be here in two hours."

**(pause flashback)**

"What's all this mentioning of Langley?" asked George during a pause by John. "If I remember correctly, Langley, which is in Virginia, is home to the CIA." answered Agasa. "Correct as always Dr. Agasa." John said. "The CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency is an organization that answers only to the President of the United States." John continued. "Who they are is best summed up by their motto, 'You shall know us by our failures, and never for our successes.' which means that they are so secretive, you only know what they are doing when the fail miserable." Richard nodded in agreement. "Makes sense, for the CIA is well known for a few infamous failures of theirs." John smiled. "That's right. When I got on board the private CIA jet bound for D.C., I knew that this would probably be the first time someone outside of the presidency got a clue on an active CIA operation."

**(continuing flashback)**

John arrived many hours later at the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington D.C., home to the FBI. Walking up the steps, he was greeted by an old college of his. "Hey there Tobias, how is everything?" John asked. Agent Tobias Fornell just shook his head. "The FBI is having enough problems without the CIA butting in." he said. "Anything to do with the mysterious early landing of Air Force One that happened yesterday?" asked John. "Yep. NCIS managed to get themselves completely wrapped up in the case." replied Tobias. "Why in the world are Navy Cops doing investigating something that happened on Air Force One?" asked John, a look of surprise on his face. "They pulled two fast one's on both us and the Secret Service." Tobias began, as they walked into the building. "First, they managed to get one of the local coroners to hold us up while they made the trip from D.C., then, while tricking us into believing that they were from the capital, got us to deplane, which allowed them to escape back to D.C. where they put one of their own guys in a body bag for us to have when we thought that we finally had the investigation." John shook his head in amazement, then frowned. "Wouldn't that technically be three fast one's, also known as a hat trick?" Tobias groaned. "Thanks for the fix." "Which is exactly why we want to deal with the CIA on our terms." said a voice coming from up ahead. Tobias and John looked up to see Director Sherman Makey walking towards them. Director Makey was a person who was truly one of the greats of the FBI. Since joining the FBI, he had proven himself to be as great if not greater than the man who's name the headquarters carried. "Director, how big of a problem is the boys up the river proving themselves to be?" asked John. "Big enough." They entered a room where many other agents where waiting. As everyone sat down, a project screen dropped, and in a few seconds, they were on a live video conference with the CIA. "What do you think you are doing there Makey? We should have precedent over the FBI because we have the experience." said the man in the center. "I don't think so. We have the evidence, it happened on our turf, and it's our business. And you might as well bring us up to speed, because were not letting go." said Director Makey. It became instantly obvious to John that the Director had delt with the CIA before. The man on the screen groaned. "Very well," he said. "A few years ago we started noticing a connection between unsolved murders happening in the U.S. and around the world. After a bit of research, we found out about a group called that even it called itself the Black Organization. It was a group that always wears black and there nicknames are different alcohols. We didn't realize how big it was until we sent agents undercover. This group has serious ties to businesses, as well as some highly advanced laboratories and technology. The ones that burned up in New Jersey and New York were two of many. By the looks of it, it's based here in America, but it has major bases in Japan and Europe." "How come we at the FBI didn't pick this up?" asked Director Makey. "They cover themselves very well. In fact, it was only by luck that we stumbled onto them." said the CIA agent. A picture appeared on the screen. It was of a man with long hair and a cigarette in his mouth. He was dressed completely in black. "This is what we believe to be their best operative. We still don't have his real name, but his code name is Gin. He can often be found with this car." A picture of the car that Shawn had shown John back in New York City popped up on the screen. "This is the car that you guys noticed. The fact that he was near many of the incidents proves his power. It's said that he is only one step down from the boss." Another picture popped up on the screen. It was of a different man. Wearing straight black as well, he was smiling and wearing sunglasses. "This man is nicknamed Vodka." the CIA agent continued. "We believe that he is the main partner of Gin." At the next picture that popped up, an audible gasp came from most in the room, including from John. The picture was of a women with long blond hair. "Wait, isn't that Chris Vineyard?" asked Director Makey. "Close." was the reply. "In reality, she is Sharon Vineyard." At that point, you could have heard a pin drop in the FBI room. "Impossible, just impossible." was Makey's response. "I know that it sounds impossible, but as far as we know, it's true. How, we may never know. However, we do it to be her, for the DNA sample we managed to get from her matched that of Sharon." was the response from the CIA. Makey just shook his head. "This could possibly mean they are far dangerous," he said. Just then, the door burst open and a guy ran up and whispered into Director Makey's ear. At the same time, at the CIA, someone had walked in and had started whispering with the agent there. "Well, it looks like we both got interesting news on the case." said Makey after a few minutes. "Yes, it looks like the boss of the organization is going to make a visit to a factory in New Jersey. He's wanting to know how things are going." said the CIA agent. "Interesting, I just found out that the guys behind the arsons and murders are stationed out of there." was the response from Director Makey. The CIA agent groaned, obviously not happy about what he was about to say. "Joint take down then?" he said. Makey smiled. "Yes, and you can have the lead." he said. The CIA agent smiled. "Very well, we meet at the park nearby at 22:00 tomorrow." This time, when the door burst open, the force behind it was staggering. The man ran to the director and whispered in his ear. All eyes had focused onto the Director. John instantly felt a chill when the Director's eyes not only nearly popped out, but cursed. "Very well, see you then." he said quickly to the CIA before cutting the connection. "Fornell, Andrews Air Force Base, NOW!!! You'll be updated on the way." Tobias Fornell was out of the room within the same second that Makey had finished his sentence. Everyone else had jumped at the Director's words. "What's wrong boss?" asked John. "There was an attempted Assassination attempt on-board Air Force One." A sudden chill filled the whole room. John could have sworn that the temperature had dropped 20 degrees. "The president?" one agent asked. "He's safe, thanks to the off-duty NCIS agent on board." the director replied. John could have sworn that he had spat when he said the Acronym NCIS. John just shied. He did care who saved the president, just as long as some did.

(The Next Day) John was ready when 22:00 hours rolled around. He was happier then normal because the FBI had managed to get full credit for the take down of the assassin on-board Air Force One. NCIS didn't seem to mind, but the SS were extremely unhappy with the FBI. But that didn't matter now. He was waiting for a signal from the CIA. While waiting, a little voice was nagging from the back of his mind. It was asking, "Why would such a seemingly powerful organization be so easy to find?" John had to keep shaking it off. He would not be distracted. He saw the signal. He raced out of the trees, with multiple other FBI and CIA agents. They had quickly surrounded the large factory. All doors were covered. Without warning, it seemed like lights orange lights were flashing around inside. At that moment John was struck with a realizing thought. "The reason it was so easy was because they knew we were coming. Oh no!" Before he was even able to say anything the agents stormed the building to a sight like none other. A raging out-of-control fire was spreading over the factor, and the dead family members of those who had been murdered by the men in black were strewn over the floor. There were men, women, and little children all over the place. John felt like he wanted to throw up, and he eventually did, as well as most of the agents. A few of them were calling the directors, others were calling for firefighters to help out."

**(end of flash back)**

"There were over 70 innocents killed that day. We had to wrap the case in secrecy from the public, so that the public would have to learn about it. To this day, this case, known only as Pandora's box, remains off limits, for neither the CIA or the FBI ever to work on again." John, who still had his pipe with him, took a few puffs, before continuing. "It was the most horrific moment we had ever seen. I took up the pipe a few days later to help with the nightmares and headaches that I've had." John stopped and continue to puff on his pipe. Everyone else in the room were absolutely stunned. Conan was speechless. He had never heard of anything happening that was this bad. "I remember this." Conan jumped and turned to see that Anita had walked up next to him. "I remember my sister talking about an incident that had happened here in America. It had caused them to completely abandoned all of their goals in the U.S. and move everything to Japan. I heard later on that both Gin and Vodka were severely punished because it was their car that linked everything together." Conan nodded.


	4. Pandora's Return

Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter this week readers. They should be back to normal length next week.

* * *

Without warning the phone rang. John sighed and got up to get it. "Hello?" he said into the receiver. "John, is that you?" came the voice in the phone. "Jake? Why are you calling me so late?" John said, a little annoyed. "Sorry, it can't wait, there's been a murder." Jake said. "So? Since when do we investigate single murders?" John asked, a little irritated at this point. What ever Jake said next had John's eyes popping out of his skull. Conan wondered what Jake was saying that could have created such a shocked look on John's face. "I'll be there in less then a half-hour." John said without warning. John hung up the phone and raced to the coat closet. "There's a list I made of things in the house you may enjoy. I'll be back as soon as possible." he said. Richard and Conan had jumped up. "Is there anyway we can help?" asked Richard. "No no, not now. Maybe in a few days, but not now." John said as he ran out the door. Conan heard the Mustang's engine roared to life as John raced of to downtown New York City.

John arrived at the scene of the crime in less then a half-hour. He looked up at the Freedom Tower, not believing that the crime had been committed at such a place. "There you are John." John looked up to see Jake running to him. "Glad you were able to make it. The police found this body yesterday morning. We were contacted about it this morning after the local ME was able to find out a little more about the body." said Jake. He lead John to the body, which was a good 50 feet from the tower. "What did the ME find out?" said John, looking down at the body. "Well, besides the gunshot wounds, that he fell from a high place." answered Jake. John looked up towards the tower. "He was shot on one of the floors? How?" "We don't know how they got in, but we found the crime scene, on the top floor of the building." said Jake. John looked all the way up to the 108th floor. "Any clue who could have done this?" asked John, still looking up at the building. "None, but for the sake of the press, were blaming it on some gangsters trying to use a kill as a way of saying how powerful they are."

John nodded. "Good, I don't want the truth on this to be released until we find out who did it."

Meanwhile, Conan had taken it upon himself to search through John's entire library, which was no easy feat. He had the an English version for just about every detective book possible. "A little overboard." came a voice from a door. Conan turned to see Anita looking at all the books. "Are you kidding me, this is amazing." Conan was looking at all the book, and loving it. Ran was watching the two from a distance, and smiling. Anita came close to him and whispered, "What do you think got John to run out of the house so quickly?" Conan frowned. "What ever it had been, it must have been important." he finally said. "And not allowing Richard to help out." asked Anita. "You idiot, would you let some stranger from overseas help out in some important investigation?" replied Conan. "If he knew him like it seemed like he new Richard, you think that he would have let Richard helped out." growled Anita.

Normally she didn't show it, but she really hated it when Conan looked down on her. Conan was about to rebut her when he stopped. He realized what she said made sense. Also, all Richard would have to say would be that he is friends with the Kudos and he would find problems. Anita smiled when she realized that her point had finally struck home with Conan. However, it didn't bother her as much as it was starting to get to him. She knew from after the incident with the CIA and FBI here in America that the Black organization would never return to America, even for here. So, in her mind, since she felt that there was no reason for the Organization to be here, she was safe. She looked at Conan, and realized that he was genuinely worried about what was going on. She shook her head at the detective and said, "If it is as important as he says it is, it'll probably be on the news." Conan's head snapped up at her words. In seconds he was running for the door, and a few moments later, he was in the living room.

George, Mitch and Amy had turned on John's TV to see what was on. Amy looked up to see Conan running in. "Glad you could make it Conan, America has some really unusual Cartoons." George laughed and said, "Really unusual, you should see ….. Hey Conan! What gives?" George had switched his tone when Conan had grabbed the remote. Conan started flipping through the channel till he found one in particular. "' This is channel 8, breaking news. _Anchor: _we have just received word that the FBI is investigating a case of murder that occurred yesterday. We go to our on scene reporter for more. _Onscene reporter_: Thank you. Just a half-hour ago, Head Director of the New York City branch of the FBI, John Thomas, arrived on the scene here at the base of the Freedom Tower here in Manhattan. Though they have yet to give a reason on why they have arrived, it is believed to have to do with the murdered body of a john doe found yesterday at the base of the Tower. That body had been shot once in the head execution style, and is currently being called a gang retribution killing. However, with the now involvement of the FBI, that conclusion has now come into question. That is the latest from the scene, back to you. _Anchor: _thank you for that information. Now as stated prev...."

Conan tuned out the rest as he thought about it. The reporter had been right. There is no reason for the head of the FBI to be called to the scene of a gang related murder, especially if it had happened the day previous. There was obviously something more to it. Something more that John and the FBI weren't telling anyone. What bugged Conan was the fact that John would allow Richard to help out _in a few days_. Why would it be safe in a few days but not now, Conan thought. What ever it was, it was big, and it worried the FBI greatly. And if it made the FBI worried... Conan shuddered, not wanting to complete the thought. The size and scale of the problem alone started to scare Conan. He looked out of a nearby window at the sky, which was starting to fill with starts, and wondered, how dangerous could this problem be?"

That was the exact same question running through John's mind. The scale that someone would have to go to to just commit this crime was insane. "Director, any new comments on the case." John sighed. He new it was a mistake for him to be here. The press were going nuts trying to figure out what had caused the FBI to become involved in the case. John shook his head as he turned to the press and said, "We currently believe that this crime may or may not be related to a crime that occurred out of state. Because of that we are not taking any unnecessary shortcuts. Apparently he had said a code word for even the members of the press that hadn't been speaking started badgering him for more information. "That is all for now, thank you." John said as he turned away from the cameras. However as he was turning, he noticed a car that hadn't been there before. While looking at the car he got a good look at the license plate, and he froze. That license plate, no that car shouldn't be here. _They_ shouldn't be here. He swore under his breath as he headed back to the scene. He was going to have to have everyone come back to the office. For what he saw was a ghost from the past, a box that though they thought had closed, screamed to be opened again.


	5. Pandora's Truth

Authors Note: Hey, just a quick word. Things have gotten busy for me, so this may be the last chapter i write for a few weeks. I promise to have the next chapter as soon as possible.

* * *

John got back to the house around midnight. He was tired, exhausted, and a little angry. He had spent most of the rest of the time he was on site on the phone with the director down in D.C. Nobody liked the fact that the car, that old black 356A Porsche was scene in the vicinity of the crime scene. He and his branch of the bureau had been ordered to go over every piece of ground, checking for evidence the regular officers could have missed. Right now, back in D.C., there would be a major discussion going on on whether or not to reopen the case known as Pandora. Nobody wanted to reopen it, but it was calling.

Conan looked up from his reading when the door opened. He had no intention of going to bed tonight, even though everyone else was in bed already. Not more then two nights ago the nightmare had returned. He couldn't get a wink of sleep at night anymore. The only reason he was so rested was because he never had dreams when he falls asleep on a plane. He couldn't explain it, but he was glad because of it. It gave him the air of having slept.

John was surprised to see Conan up. "What are you doing up?" he asked Conan, as he went and sat down in one of the chairs. "Tomorrow's going to be a big day, and you'll want your strength." Conan smiled and said. "I know, I just want to finish this chapter." He showed John the book and he noticed the title. "Hm, the Hounds of Bakersfield, a good book." John noted. Conan nodded his head. "Alright, you can finish reading the chapter. But then straight to bed." John said as he made his way to the kitchen." "Okay." said Conan. But there was no way he was going to bed. After finishing the chapter Conan went to see what John was doing.

When Conan turned the corner into the kitchen, he saw John drinking a beer and smoking his pipe. He seemed very deep in thought. Before Conan was able to say anything, John got up from the table were he had been siting and started moving his way to his study. Conan followed. John walked into the study and noticed the file that he had taken out was still there. He flipped through it not knowing that Conan was there. He after a minute of going through the different papers he had in the file, he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a picture and just stared at it. Conan, being curious, walked behind John to get a good look at the picture. He was stunned when he realized that it was Gin and Vodka, looking up right at the camera. "I thought I told you to go to bed." Conan jumped then realized that John had finally noticed that he was there. "Yea, well... who are those people?" Conan asked, pointing at the picture. He felt that he should at least act like he didn't now who they are.

"These men?" John asked looking at the picture. "I don't know their names, but they were the one's that we believe started the chaos eight years ago." John shook his head and finished of the beer he had brought with him. He gave the picture to Conan. "How did you manage to get this?" asked Conan. He was still amazed that anyone had the a picture of Gin and Vodka. "Luck you could say. This was taken from a red light camera. Surprisingly enough, the police haven't found the people who blew the red light, but we happened to notice these two in the upper right corner of the picture." Conan nodded and looked at the picture. "Alright, head to bed." John said. Conan nodded and left the room. But he ended up going to the library for a little bit before heading back to the office. It had started raining and when Conan entered the study, he saw John had fallen asleep at the desk. Conan smiled and then started rifling through the file. He ended up finding a report John had written about the event that occurred eight years ago. While skimming it, he started to realize that this report was completely different from the story he had given hours before. He started back at the top, and started to read.

**(TRUTH STORY OF EVENTS)**

John was absolutely unhappy. Even though he had just become the director of the New York City branch of the FBI, he had not wanted the job. The office was a mess and the branch was considered the laughing stock of the FBI as a whole. The higher-ups in Washington wanted John to take over because he had the most experience of the whole branch, and though John had fought it completely, he failed to keep them from promoting him. So now he was the head of what had to be the worst FBI branch in the world. He was so unhappy that when the phone rang, he nearly blew it off. But he ended up deciding to be professional so he answered the phone. "Hello?" he asked. "Hey boss, we got a problem." said a voice. John groaned, what now? "What is it?" he asked. "There's been a factory fire." "So?" asked John. "Why should I care about this? A factory fire isn't enough for the FBI to be called out."

"It is if it is a arson and that arson's have occurred in the same way in multiple states it's our problem." said the voice from the phone. John just shook his head. "Alright, I'll send some people to help out." he said. "Well, you better come with them." the voice said. "Why?" said John. "Well, before I called you, the folks in Washington called. When I told them what was happening, they pretty much ordered that you be part of the on-scene investigation." John wanted to yell at the lower agent for doing such a thing. But he got himself composed and said. "Alright, I'll be there soon."

It had taken John an hour to get to the site, an hour John could have spent alone back at his place in Manhattan. When he got there the factory was nothing but a set of smoldering ruins. His younger agent, Jake, was coming out to meet him. Before John had the ability to reprimand Jake for having given all the information to the high-ups in Washington, Jake said, "Guess how many died?" John couldn't believe he was asking that question, but what the heck, what harm could it bring? "By looking at the possible size of the factory, I would say maybe 15 people." "Nope." was Jake's response.

That caused John to raise his eyebrows. "They all make it out?" he asked "Nope." was Jake's response again. "No? How's that?" John asked, is interest finally peaked. "There was no one here to begin with." was the response. "Today's a weekday, how's that possible?" "It's not." John looked at Jake for a better explanation. "Look, that's all I know. I've got guys back at HQ working on it." Jake said. "Then why are we still here?" John said, and within moments they were both on their way back to the City and HQ.

**(pause flashback)**

Conan couldn't believe what he was reading. It was a completely different story then what John had told them earlier. In fact even the John in this story was a completely different story. "What in the world happened?" Conan thought. The complete change in everything was just stunning. "What are you looking at?" Conan jumped and turned to see Anita walking into the room. "What are you doing up?" he asked. "I should be asking you the same question." was her response. Conan just shook his head and showed her the document. Anita looked and Conan and asked "What is this?" "Just read." was his only response. Anita got to where Conan had stopped when she stopped and looked up at Conan, her eyes wide. "What is this?" she asked again, this time with a little bit more worry in her voice. "It looks to be the true story of events on what happened." Conan responded. Anita looked at him. "Why would he lie to us?" she asked. "I don't know, but there's got to be some reason." Conan said. "Let's continue reading and maybe we'll find out."

**(resume flashback)**

It was a few days after the fire and John was sitting on a desk looking at the pin board. There were the pictures of five scientists that were now dead, shot in the head. John shook his head. "What is it boss?"

John looked up and saw Jake, Carol, and Shawn looking at him. He gave a loud sigh and looked at the board. HE was sighing because the one's on the board were only the most important scientists were on the board. In fact, there were a total of at least 25 dead scientists of one form or another. All of them though were killed with a direct head shot. The fact that this was matching up with another factor fire in New Jersey was starting to give him a severe headache. "It's nothing." he said. He looked at up at the board and asked, "Anything telling us who may be the cause of these murders."

"Nope, nothing at all. At least nothing that we've been able to find out." said Carol. John groaned. He was getting pressured by the higher-ups in Washington to wrap this up fast. And with no evidence at any murder, it was becoming impossible to figure out. "Hold on, looks like forensics may have something." Shawn said, looking at his computer. John, Jake and Carol turned to look at Shawn. "They've started to notice a car that is always in the perimeter of each of the scenes." he continued. "What kind of car?" asked Jake. "A black 356A Porsche." Shawn said. Jake whistled. "That's a nice car." John gave him a quick stare telling him to shut up before asking, "Where they able to get the license plate off of the car?" "Yep, and they are running it now." Shawn replied. John smiled. Maybe he'll have something good to report to the people in Washington.

When the phone started ringing in his office, John jumped off the desk and walked towards the phone. He picked it up and said, in the happiest voice he had had in a long time, "Hello, head of the New York City branch of the FBI, how may I help you?" "Hello, this is Agent Smith of the CIA." "CIA? What does the CIA want with the FBI?" asked John. "We've got information that you are currently looking for a Black 356A Porsche. Is this true?" asked Agent smith. John bit back a groan, he hated it when someone answered a question with a question. "Yea, this is true, so what?" "We ask you to stop looking for it know." said Agent Smith. "Really, why should I." asked John, a little annoyed.

"Because what are you are investigating is a very important and very dangerous, and something you don't want to mess with." said Agent Smith. John snorted, "Like I'm supposed to believe someone from the CIA." "Don't make this hard on yourself. In fact, to make it easier on you, we'll be taking over the investigation." "Oh no you don't, I'm not going to allow that to happen." John said as he hung up. He instantly dialed up his head back in Washington only to get a busy signal. He sighed as he hung up. "What was it boss?" game a voice from the door. John turned and said. "The CIA is trying to take over this case." Carol was obviously angry. "I hope you told them off." she said. "Of course I.. hold on." he said as the phone rang again. "Hello?" And a bit of discussion. He put the phone and said, "That was the Director." "Wait, our director?" asked Jake, surprised. "Yep, he sending the plane up to collect the evidence. I'm going down with it to D.C. to help fight against the CIA." John replied. "Good luck." said Shawn. John nodded.

**(pause flashback)**

Anita looked at Conan. "Did that have a higher death toll?" she asked. "It looks like it." replied Conan, "Which can only mean bad news about later events in the story." Anita only nodded. Skimming the next section, he said, "By the looks of it all of the events at the FBI HQ in Washington D.C. are the same." "Alright then, why don't we skip to the most important part then." Anita said. Conan nodded and skipped ahead in the story. While showing calm on the inside, his mind was racing ever faster. What could have happened, he thought. To have caused such a change in the story, the event that occurred must have been absolutely shocking.

**(resume flashback)**

It was roughly midnight as John was waiting outside the building, waiting for the signal. With the FBI and CIA working in partnership, there was little chance of the mission failing. And yet something still bugged him. He didn't know what it was, but he just knew that something wasn't right. He tried to shake it off, knowing that he would have to be at the top of his game for this mission. When the signal finally came, he jumped up and raced towards the doorway he and a few others were supposed to enter by. As each group gathered at each of the entry/exit points, the feeling inside John that something wasn't right increased. It was as if everything was going perfectly. Which, on such a large mission, was never a good sign. John knew that it was always a good thing to have even the smallest glitch to happen before a mission, that way it would please the mission gods and the most important part of the mission would go off smoothly.

With another signal, the moment had arrived. But just as John touched the door handle to enter, he instantly withdrew his hand, as if burned. Which is exactly what had happened. The handle had been heated as if in a furnace. Grabbing the glove that he always kept in case of fire, he put it on and again went for the door. This time, with the glove dissipating some of the heat, he was able to open the door, to a sight that made him instantly sick to the stomach. As the groups at other doors manage to get in, the shouts and screams of horror were apparent. Lying in the middle of the stripped factory was at least a couple hundred dead bodies. Bodies of men, women and children stacked like cord wood as the fire raced around them. When John noticed what the fire was using as fuel, he had to turn around and leave the building, for the flames were using the blood of the slaughtered as a river of fuel. He could see many people phoning the director's of both agencies, wondering what to do. John completely understood why they were in such a state of confusion. Nothing on this scale of horror had ever happened before. John shook his head. He looked back at the building. Now relaxed, he knew the warning that was given, for it was simple. "DO NOT FOLLOW US!" was that warning, a warning, John knew, both agencies knew.

**(end flashback)**

Conan let the papers fall to the floor. The complete shock of what the Black Organization had done had completely overwhelmed him. "I had know idea." said Anita. Conan turned to her. "You mean.." "I knew the organization had done some terrible things, but having locked away this secret. Even I have a hard time believing that they would do such a terrible thing." Conan just shook his head. "Well, it looks like the FBI and CIA have finally decided to ignore that warning. What the consequences of that will be, well, who knows.


	6. Disturbing Pattern

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long. I've been very busy. Anyway, here is the next chapter in the series. Near the beginning it's a little choppy, so any ideas of improvement would be appreciated. **

* * *

Conan noticed that Anita had a hard time getting to sleep afterwards. Which was no surprise. The image given in the report of dead bodies surrounded by the flames had disturbed him greatly. Interestingly enough, they had never done anything like this since. Conan laid his head back and tried to figure out why. The only thing that he could think of was that any crime of that nature now would bring attention to them, which was the last thing they want.

But still such a incident by the organization was hard to fathom. It would have to mean that what ever they were doing was so great and so dangerous that no one could ever find out. Conan looked back over at Anita, who had finally fallen asleep, and wondered if the project that she had been working on was connected. He had already figured out that she had accidentally created the poison that had shrunken the both while working on something. Could she have been part of the dangerous project.

Conan woke up to the sound of John whistling in the kitchen. At the same time he was surprised by the fact that he had been asleep. Apparently he had been far more tired then expected. "At least you didn't dream." he told himself as he walked towards the kitchen. He entered to see John, in an apron, in front of the stove, whistling. To his right was a massive stack of pancakes on a good sized plate. "Making enough?" Conan asked. John turned around and smiled. "Big day today, so one needs to eat." he said, pointing to the table. There were a big bowl of scrambled eggs and a heap of bacon as well as juice and milk. "Wow that a lot of food!" Conan turned to see everyone else walk into the connected dinning room. "Dig in." John said, smiling.

A few minutes later everyone was sitting down around the table eating. Conan had finally decided that it had been a good thing for John to cook so much food. Especially after seeing how much George was eating. "So John, what are we going to see?" John put his fork down and leaned back in his chair. "Well, day 1 of going through Manhattan island. Just a viewing of the sites." was his answer. "What is there to see?" Amy asked. "New York City has the largest collection of tall building anywhere in the world." Mitch responded. "I hope there's some good restaurants." George commented, causing everyone to laugh. "Don't worry about it. There a plenty of restaurants with food from all around the food here in Manhattan. In fact, Manhattan has been used as an example of the melting pot of America." John said.

Half an hour later John was driving the van into a underground parking garage. After parking, he led everyone out for the view. "So, any preference where to go in this city?" he asked. Surprisingly, it was Richard who answered first. "I heard that this city is the financial center of the nation. Is this true?" "It is true. Follow me." John answered. After a few blocks he led them to the subway. A little while later they were back at street level. "There it is." John said smiling, pointing and a building that could almost be mistaken for a building strait out of the Ancient Greece or the Roman Empire. The building had dozens of steps leading up to the pillars that faced the street. Conan couldn't believe it. "This is the headquarters of the American Economy?" John laughed. "Surprising, isn't it?" He pointed out the bronze statue of a bull in front of the building. "The statue is a symbol of the type of economy we want to have. Legend states that if a bull and a bear ever fight, the bull can only win by thrusting it's horns upwards, while the bear can only win by forcing the bull downwards. So, if the economy is up, it said that we are having a bull market, and when the economy is down, it's said that we have a bear market. The statue of the bull out front is kind of like an alter to the gods of the economy, praying always for a bull market." John paused to laugh before finishing, "This my friends is the house of greed." Richard looked at John. "Is it possible to enter?" John just continued smiling and said, "Normally no, but I have connections.

A few minutes later they were in a viewing room above the floor of the stock market. Conan was stunned by all the chaos, as was everyone else. "I see pure chaos." commented Rachel. John replied, "It's ordered chaos. Surprisingly enough, they know exactly what they are doing here at Wall Street." "I though that the street was called Wall Street?" Rachel asked. "The street is called Wall Street, as is this building. Though it sounds confusing, anyone who has lived in New York city for more then a few months are used to it." answered John. Conan just shook his head. He was still having a hard time believing that the economic power of the worlds greatest nation was funneled in this room of chaos below him, which in his mind, had no order in it at all. "Alright, were next?" asked John.

Before anyone was able to answer, John's cell went off. "One moment." he said as he walked away before answering it. "John Thomas here." he said. "Hey boss, it's Jake." came the voice over the phone. "Jake, did you forget that it's my few days off. I mean, I have guests." John said, annoyance obvious in his voice. Conan noticed the tone even from the distance. "I wonder who it is?" asked George. "Maybe it's someone important." replied Mitch. "I don't think so Mitch." Mitch, Amy, Anita, and George looked at him. "Just by his voice, I can tell that who ever it is isn't making him happy. There is a tone of annoyance in his voice. As John hung up, Conan also noticed, just for a split second, a look of either fear or worry flashed across John's face, causing Conan to question what had been said to cause that reaction.

"Sorry, something important has come up." John said, rejoining the group. "I have to head over to HQ." "What are we going to do?" asked Agasa. "Don't worry, I have got a few guys setting up a presentation for you about the different techniques used in the U.S. to fight crimes." John replied. "You're not going to see that presentation, are you." Anita said, just loud enough for Conan to hear. Conan just smiled. "You should know, having studied here in America, that the police are very different here then they are in Japan." Anita noted. Conan nodded. He knew that he couldn't be noticed if he wanted to know everything.

A half an hour later, while everyone else was getting a showing about solving crimes U.S. style, John was a few floors up, surrounded by his group. Of course, Conan was watching, hidden nearby, but still able to see the board they were all looking at. "So, what do we have that's so important." asked John, a tone of annoyance still in his voice. "From the looks of it, nearly a dozen more crimes all linked to our original crime at Freedom Tower." Jake replied. Conan could see a map of Manhattan, covered with red dots. "Any patterns?" John asked. "Besides the fact that there is no evidence at any of the different scene's, which lead us to the connections, yes." he turned the map so that North was pointing to the right. "look." Jake said as he started to connect the dots starting from the right, spelling out '9/11', except with the circle at the top of the nine incomplete. Though Conan could not immediately see the importance of this date, one look at John proved that it was important. Any look of annoyance was instantly gone. Fear was fully engulfing his face. That look alone sent chills across Conan's spine.

John tried to shake the fear from his face as he said, "Can we tell where the next murder will take place?" "Sort of, we have a roughly 3 by 3 block area that the final murder could take place in." Jake answered, pointing it out on the map." John sighed and sat down. "Any chance we can shrink the size of the area?" he asked. "None. If you want to go with the pattern, that is as small of area I can predict." Jake replied. "God, why would they do this?" John said, getting up from the chair. "I mean, this isn't normal for them to do." He pointed to a stack of files, all of them having the letters CIA on them. "There is nothing in there that suggest they would do something like this." "Ah, don't forget about Pandora." reminded Jake. John dropped his head to his hands. "Don't remind me." he seemingly commanded. After a minute, he looked back up at the map and said, "Still, not all of this fits with them. I mean, for their entrance back in the U.S., you would think that they would do something bigger." A picture John had been holding fell in front of Conan. Conan looked at the picture, before shrinking back. It was the picture of Gin and Vodka from the file John had shown them. He realized that Anita was no longer safe. "I know what you mean. This is too sophisticated for something simple. There has to be something bigger." Jake said, leaning on a desk. John sighed and said, "Well, the showing for my guests should be about done. Tell me if you find anything." Jake nodded as John left the room, Conan sneaking out afterwards. A few minutes later, as everyone was leaving the building, Agasa had just asked about why John had been called back. "Well, it's not that big of deal." John said. "Is that the truth?" Anita whispered to Conan. Conan slipped a piece of paper that said, almost like anticipating the question, "Very Important information, tell you later." Conan had decided not to tell her about Gin and Vodka yet. Just by looking around, he could tell that she was going to fit in far better here then she ever would in Japan.


	7. Violence Erupts

"So, where do you guys want to go now?" asked John. "I've heard that there is a big lady here. Is it true?" asked George. "Look around kid, there are big women everywhere." Richard commented. Conan was having the hardest time keeping himself from face-palming, because he knew Richard was capable of such lines, he never herd him use them before. And from Rachel's look of shock, she had never either. So it surprised him when John started laughing. "I know what you mean. This way." John said why laughing. Conan ended up thinking that John had heard worse. He was slightly annoyed that Richard had taken John's reaction to mean that such lines where okay.

Walking up to a ferry dock, Mitch asked, "I thought we were going to see Lady Liberty?" John smiled and said, "we are. It takes a ferry to get there." He pointed down the coast, and there she was, torch held high. "Wow, even from here she's magnificent." Rachel said. Conan could help but agree. Looking up at John, he noticed that a shadow had fallen across his face, as if something wasn't right. 'He must still be thinking about earlier.' Conan thought. As they got on-board the ferry, Conan pulled Anita aside and said, "Alright, here is what happened earlier."

A few minutes later, Conan was looking at a startled, yet confused face. "Their right, that doesn't make any sense. It doesn't seem like them at all." Anita said. She was almost calmed down from the fact that the Organization was here in New York. Surprisingly, telling her she'd blend in more here in America then in Japan didn't help. "Their pretty sure that it's them." Conan said. "I mean, they were seen near one of the crime scenes." "If they're doing this much, then they're building up to something big." Anita said, becoming lost in thought. "And you know this date is important?" "Absolutely." replied Conan. "When it was pointed out, John almost turned into a completely different person. Something happened in the past on that date." Conan looked at John. "Something big."

John's cell started ringing. "John here." he said. "Jake here, we have our final murder." John sighed. "Was it it you 3 by 3 search area?" he asked. "yep, near dead center." Jake responded. John leaned back on the ferry's rail, and looked to his right. Freedom Tower sparkled in the sunlight. "You know what tomorrow is, don't you?" Jake said after a minute. John hung his head. "yea, I do." after a pause, "Calling Washington and tell them that we're opening Pandora." "Are you serious John?" "Absolutely! We need every piece of information possible. With Pandora open, we will have everything the FBI knows about them. Maybe that will also wake up Langley up to the fact that something isn't right." John said, his voice full of determination, if not a faint bit of fear. "Roger that." Jake said. Something struck John. "Check the international files. Maybe we'll get lucky." with that John ended the call.

Anita was looking around when she commented, "I've noticed that the security is pretty high here in the U.S. Is this normal?" John just nodded. "Actually, the security has very slowly been relaxing in the past couple of years. Though the high security is nice." Conan nodded. Ever since stepping off the plane in the international section at the airport, he had noticed the security in America was far higher then it was in Japan. Though he was actually annoyed by the higher security, he had to admit that he felt far safer. Looking up at John, he noticed an extra bulge under his coat, something that he hadn't noticed the whole day. He ruled the gun out because not only was the shape all wrong, it being almost cylindrical in shape, John already carried a gun. Conan just nodded the thought away and looked back towards Lady Liberty.

Coming down the stairs inside the statue, Gin was smiling. It had been a good idea to scope out the place from that height. Being at that height had shown many points that he could view the action when it took place. "Got some good ideas, Aniki?" came a voice from farther up. Vodka was taking a bit more time coming down the stairs. Gin only nodded. The plan was nearly complete. He had been watching the media reports, and had noticed that it seemed that the police still didn't have any clue what was going on. However he knew that there were more levels of police here in America then there was in Japan. So he was still keeping an eye out for anything unusual as he stepped out into the sun. Out in the distance, he could see the ferry coming up to the dock.

John looked up and instantly felt his heartbeat quicken. He could see Gin up ahead with Vodka walking behind him. He quickly motioned for two guards on the boat and told them who he was, and that those two in black were to be as quietly and smoothly removed from the public eye to a safe place. For John didn't want anything to happen. As soon as the boat docked, the two guards got two more, and went up to the two.

"Excuse me sirs, do you mind coming with us. There is something we would like to talk to you about." one of the officers said to Gin and Vodka. Gin instantly realized that something wasn't right, but he wasn't going to get busted. He was about to agree to it when he looked and saw John coming towards them, with a cell in one ear. Now that normally wouldn't have meant anything, however Gin also saw the gun at John's hip, and realized that they had to run. "I don't think so." Gin said as he pulled out his gun and shot one of the guards instantly dead. Vodka pulled his out and shot another guard as they started running.

John had realized that he was busted before Gin had even pulled out his gun. Swearing, he dropped his cell and started retrieving his side arm when Gin started firing. Instantly panic swept the entire area. Conan heard the gunshots. He instantly ducked for cover, yelling "Everyone, get down." John was racing after Gin and Vodka, dodging shots. A lucky shot from Gin damaged John's gun, with the resulting force causing pain to shoot into his hand and lower arm. Cursing, John stopped running.

Conan, having finally realized what was going on, quickly and sneakily left his position to try to see where Gin and Vodka were going. Even though he still hated/feared them, he wanted to know as much as possible by the time he ended up taking them down. When he looked at John, he saw him shake off the pain and reach into his pocket for a Colt Peacemaker. Conan skidded to a stop at the sight of the gun. He had never seen anything like it. Though it looked like a normal colt 45, the barrel had an insane length. John fired a shot from the Peacemaker at Gin and Vodka, hitting Vodka in the left shoulder before starting to run after them again.

Vodka cried out when the bullet struck him, but he kept on running. Gin swore, looking around for a way off the island. Without warning a boat started to pull up beside the island. "Hop in!" called someone from the boat. Gin didn't question it and after helping Vodka into the boat, he jumped in as well. Looking back as the boat quickly pulls away, he sees John make it to the edge. John aims the Peacemaker and fires one last shot in the direction of Gin. Though he misses, Gin, he hits his hat, causing Gin's hat to come flying off, surprising Gin.

John swears because of the miss as he looks out at Gin. Gin looks back, and they share a look the Conan, who has finally caught up, can easily read as complete and total animosity. In Conan's mind, it was like the rebirth of a rivalry. The pure hatred sent chills down Conan's spine, and he was forced to back away in order to keep from falling into fear. It didn't work, and he became afraid of the fact that there was an anger within John that was greater then he had seen from anyone except maybe Gin. And what Conan found most frightening is that the anger just came out of nowhere. And yet, though frightened, he started to focus on the fact that he knew he had to find out where the anger came from. Otherwise the next clash between the two could be very dangerous for all around.

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**Author's Note: For anyone curious, yes the colt peacemaker, also known as the colt single action army, had multiple barrel lengths, including one that is a foot long.**


	8. Unknown Fear

**Author's Note: Well, another one's up. I going to be getting really busy, so even though this story will end in two more chapters, (after this one) It could be a while. Hopefully not as long as the one back in February and March. Well, hope you enjoy.**

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It wasn't till later that Conan completely understood everything that happened that night. Then again, it was surprising that he could even understand it. The first few moments were somewhat a blur. What he remembered was after Gin and Vodka escaping was John explaining something at extreme speed to many of the guards. After that he and the rest of the group waited as John was seemingly on the phone for an hour, the media arrived. And to say the media was everywhere was an understatement. Conan was distracted by all the different news agencies fighting for every piece of information. He counted at least a half dozen, though there could be more. And they all wanted interviews with people who had witnessed what had happened. Actually, they were really annoying Conan, especially since he had re-taken up the role of protecting Anita. John finally got the mass that was the media to calm down by shouting his voice above all others. Conan turned to see what John would say.

John had no idea it would have turned into such a nightmare. Initially after the escape, things had been easy. Getting the guards to understand what was going on had been simple. After that, everything had gone to hell. First had been the call of the head director of the FBI, how he had found out so quickly John would probably never know. Then he had calls from multiple state _and_ national agencies. Then while receiving all those calls the media circus had shown up to his chagrin. Though he had quickly gotten the head guard on the island to keep things under control as much as possible, he knew that it would not last. The media would always want answers, and if they didn't get them soon enough, they would start making information up until the truth was known. Therefore, after a quick call to Washington, he decided to make an announcement. He felt that he could give away some info, and still satisfy the media.

So it was with that in mind that John started speaking to the listening ears of the media, and pretty much, the world. "Earlier today, two suspects wanted by the FBI for various murders in and around New York City were spotted here, exiting the Statue of Liberty pedestal. Now it had been in the intention of the FBI along with local guards for a peaceful arrest. However, those suspects apparently had no intention of going peacefully. Thankfully, during the shootout and their getaway, no bystanders were injured. Later tonight each one of your news agencies will be getting a copy of the descriptions of the two criminals so that you may be able to warn others. Thank you and goodnight."

Conan knew that John knew that that statement was only going to temporary stall the media. But it was necessary. By this time, Conan and the rest of the group and been escorted back to John's place. Conan did not envy John in any way, shape or form. Then he remembered something. He snuck out of the Family room, and unnoticed, started heading towards the study. "Where are you going?" Well, almost unnoticed. Conan turned to see Anita looking at him. Conan thought fast and said, "The second floor of the library." Anita raised an eyebrow, but ended up shrugging and walking back into the family room. Conan smiled and walked towards the study.

In the study he looked at the filing cabinets. He noticed one that had the words, "Famous dates" labeled on it, and decided to open it. Maybe there was something about 9/11 in it. He was surprised at the number of files. Then he noticed one that was sizable larger then the rest. Looking closer, he saw the date, "September 11, 2001" printed in bold, black letters. The size of the file was so large that it could fit a dictionary. With a little force he managed to get it out of the cabinet, only to be surprised by the weight. When the file fell from his hands, a newspaper fell out, front page facing up. Conan looked at it, and felt the blood drain from his face.

John was juggling multiple calls back at his office. He was thankful that one of the agents had been wiling to take Richard and the rest back to his place. Besides being nearly constantly in contact with Washington, he was having to deal with the media, who was constantly calling him. He finally got tired enough that he asked if the boys at the Hoover Building could do anything about the national media. He knew that if the national media was kept busy, he would have to give the information one to the local media, and it would spread through the rest of the channels. A few minutes later, the phone calls started to die down, causing him to finally breath a sigh of relief. He walked out of the office and into the main room where the main force of his agents were.

"So, any ideas on why they were there?" he asked. John had his own ideas, but he always listened to his agents first. Many times before they had come up with better ideas, so he tended to listen to them even during extreme situations. "None at the moment." said Jake. This surprised John. "Really?" "Yep." replied Jake. "We even looked for possible targets that could be viewed from the crown. Nothing." John frowned, realizing that his ideas were gone. Well, most of them. "What about the statue its self?" John asked. "After today, highly unlikely." answered Jake. "And we still have nothing to link it with the date." John looked at the map of the city, 9/11 still marked on it, showing the link between the murders. "Can we pull up what they would have been looking at?" John asked, frowning. "Sure." Jake turned to a computer nearby and tapped a few keys. A view of the city from the crown appeared on a plasma. John walked up and looked at it. "Something bothering you?" Jake asked. "Why would they risk being exposed at the statue if there were no targets?" John asked back. He looked across and the rows of building, then noticed a lone high rise. "What is the view of the city from the high rise?" asked John. Jake frowned, then picked up a phone. "Can I get a full 360 view from the top of the building at..., J J Intermediate School." Jake put the phone back on the receiver. "We'll know in 20 minutes." John already had an Idea, and he hoped like hell he was wrong.

Anita had started looking for Conan. Slipping out of the family room wasn't that hard. After going to the library and not finding him, which was no surprise, she went to the study. There she found Conan, white faced, looking at a newspaper. She rushed over to see what was wrong. "What's wrong?" asked Anita. Conan just pointed at the paper. She looked, and she could feel the blood drain away.


	9. Flash Point

**Author's Note: I apologize if this chapter seems a little weird. I had a hard time figuring out how do this properly. If you feel that something could be improved, don't hesitate to point it out. All reviews are welcome. However this is the last official chapter. I should have the epilogue up by the end of the week. But like i said, any good ideas for fixes to this chapter will be listened to.**

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When the 360 view came in, they put it up on the plasma. The center of it was a beautiful view of Manhattan. "To many targets." Jake said. John sighed. "To bad we can't see it at other times of the day." Jake nodded, the slapped his hand on his forehead. I just remembered that we got a new program from HQ yesterday. He started tapping on the keyboard. Without warning the sun started cycling through the photo. John was amazed. "This is cool." He said. He then asked, "Can we pinpoint certain times?" "Yes we can." Jake replied. "Great, Tomorrow morning, sunrise." John said. They watched as the sun went down and then came back up. "Any other ideas?" asked Jake. "One." replied John. He walked to the computer Jake was at and punched in a few numbers. On the screen the sun moved slightly. As the sun stopped moving, the Freedom tower in the center of the screen suddenly flashed pure white. "So, at that specific time, the sun hits the Freedom tower in such a way that it shines like the sun itself." John nodded and then noticed an odd function of the program. Clicking on it, he looked up as the screen started rotating around the Freedom tower, giving a rough 3D sketch. The whole time, the tower was still shining. After the 360 round, John stopped the program. "So if this program is right, at the time you entered, the Freedom Tower will shine like the sun from all angles." Jake commented. "Amazing, simple amazing. So," Jake continued, "What time did you enter?" He turned to see John's face droop. "What is it?" Jake asked. "The time, 8:46 a.m." John said in barely a whisper. He could feel his heart wanting to stop in the horror of the realization.

The first hints of light were starting to appear on the ocean horizon when John woke up. He was on a couch at FBI NY HQ. He hadn't gone home that night. John yawned and walked into the main room. Jake was already up with a cup of coffee in his hands. "Anything happen?" John asked. "Nothing." Jake replied. John sighed and grabbed his own cup of coffee. "We're absolutely positive about this, right?" asked John. "Positive. It's the only thing that makes sense." Jake replied. John just shook his head. "This is just so unbelievable." he said, taking a sip of the coffee. "I know, I know." After a few moments of sipping there coffee, John suddenly tipped his head back and downed what was about half a cup of remaining coffee. "In a hurry boss?" Jake asked. "I don't like the fact that they haven't acted yet." was the answer from John. And he truly was worried. It wasn't like anything he had known or been told about the Black Organization.

The phone next to them rang, causing John to jump slightly. Jake chuckled at John's jumping, causing John to grumble. He hit the speaker button and said, "What is it?" "There is a boy here that says he knows you. His name is Conan." said the voice from the phone. Jake looked at John. "Isn't he one of the folks you're taking care of?" John just nodded. He was about to just have the desk send him away when he realized he had an opportunity here. "Send him up." John said and turned the speaker off, killing the conversation. "What's up?" asked Jake. "You've got to see this kid." I've been watching him, and he's nothing like you've ever seen. And I'm going to test it." John smiled. This kid was smarter then normal, and he was going to prove it.

Conan opened the door to the room to see John and what he believed was Jake looking at a massive screen. John turned and asked, "What are you doing here?" Conan gave his most innocent look and said, "Just wondering what you are doing." John just smiled. Conan manged to get a look at the screen. The center of the screen there was a bright light, shining over what was a major part of the city. Conan walked up to the screen to try to figure out what the light was. This allowed John to get a clue on how the kid had gotten here.

Jake also noticed and smiled. He grabbed the skateboard Conan had and started looking at it. "You came all this way with only this?" Jake asked, looking at it very carefully. Conan nodded. "That and the subway." he replied. John took the skateboard from Jake and accidentally pressed the accelerator, causing the wheels to spin and John to nearly drop it. Noticing the button, he quickly took his hands off of it, causing the wheel's to stop turning. John turned it over to look at the what he believed to be the engine. "One of the Doc's inventions?" he asked. Conan just nodded, having turned his attention back to the screen, he was just starting to realize what was glowing was a building on the screen itself. "Man, if he would just sell his inventions over here, he would be filthy rich pretty darn quick." John commented. He set the board down as Conan put his hand on the screen. "Is something going on at that building today?" Conan asked, still trying to sound innocent. John smiled without Conan knowing. Though it was an obvious question, it was the wrong question for someone his age to ask. A quick look from Jake told him that Jake had also noticed the oddity. But that look also held the statement that said that the question wasn't enough to convince him.

"Well, we hope not." John finally responded. He decided to play along. The kid would surely slip up. "What do you mean by that?" asked Conan. "Well," started Jake, deciding to play along just to see where it would end up, "there are some bad people wanting to do harm that will strike there." "What, at a certain time?" Conan asked, not really thinking about what he was saying. He was paying more attention to everything else. He realized why that building was bothering him so. It was located in the same spot as the tragedy in the papers.

Jake's eyebrows had shot through the roof when Conan had asked the question. He looked as John stunned. The kid in front of them was not ordinary in any sort of way. There was a genius to him that didn't make any sense. However, the same look said that the kid maybe some help. John nodded his agreement. "Yep, it's an exact time." Now it was Conan's turn to be surprised. "You can tell exactly what time?" Conan had never heard of such a technology. "Yes sir. Here, I'll display it for you." John turned to the keyboard and hit a few keys. The date and time came up on the right side of the screen. Conan saw the information come up, and for the second time in less then 24 hours, felt the blood race away from his face, pure shock coming over all of his features.

There could have been no bigger clue in John's mind that Conan was not who he claimed to be. The way he reacted to seeing the date and time alone was enough to raise suspicions. John nodded to Jake who had finally come to believe. But before John could say anything, the phone rang, causing all three to jump. Cursing at the surprise, John picked up the phone and shouted, "WHAT IS IT!" Conan and Jake had turned to watch and were now watching an eyebrow raise itself above the hairline. "Right, Right, Very well, do it." John said before hanging up. "What's up?" Jake asked. "The organization was spotted near the Empire State Building. I'm moving people over there." Jake's eyebrows also raised at the news. "That doesn't make any sense." Jake said. "What are they planning?" "I don't know, but I don't like it." John said, and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" Jake asked. "To join them at the Empire State Building. I want to be there when the capture is made." John replied. "Then, you might want to listen to me." came a voice. John and Jake looked down at Conan. He let out a small smile. "I have an idea."

Gin stared up at the building. Just a few days earlier he had killed a man up near the top, and today he was going to kill a few more. "We ready there Aniki?" Vodka walked up on him. Gin smiled. The FBI and local police had been sent by false information completely 'cross town and would never make it back in time. Gin nodded. "Let it begin." Without warning a black truck pulled up outside the skyscraper. A few men came out of the back doors and started picking up sacks. Gin's smile grew wider. This was going to be a great day.

"I would wipe that smile off your face if I were you." Gin spun around, pulling his pistol out at the same time. A gunshot forced Gin to duck down. He cursed as the realization hit that he had been played as a fool. A quick look around him told him that he and the group were surrounded. How the FBI had done it, Gin doubted he'd ever know. The most important thing was to get out of there fast. He quickly hopped in his car as Vodka scooted in as well. Gin started the engine at hit the pedal to the medal. He winced when he heard his wheels squeal. He hated to do this to his ride, but he had no other choice. He quickly turned north and sped away.

John swore at the sight of Gin and Vodka leaving. He had ordered his men not to open fire unless fired upon. The one that had opened fire was already in trouble, and by appearances, it was about to get worse for him. However, the main group with the van looked like they were going to cooperate, so Gin would be his only problem. Then he noticed a flash of green going after the Porsche, and cursed again, realizing who it was that was giving chase.

Conan was focused on following Gin and Vodka. He couldn't believe that they had been able to escape the trap set by the FBI. Conan turned hard right to continue following. He was at least very glad to have been right about the fake set up at the different sight. It had allowed for the FBI to set up the trap to begin with. Admittedly he had hated the fact that John had told his men to hold fire. He had a feeling that Gin had ran for it because of the fact that only one shot went off, and that from an agent who had not listened to his superiors.

Conan was also surprised by the lack of morning traffic. He had heard that New York city traffic could at times be worse then Tokyo traffic. Though normally it would be nice to have such little traffic, today it was just making it easier for Gin and Vodka escape upstate, away from all the toll booths. After a while Conan was forced to stop. There was no way he was going to catch up with them, especially with Major highway approaching. Conan couldn't help but curse at the fact that he had to let them go. He knew that it was not over, they would be back. Not in New York, for they had learned that lesson, but somewhere else in America.

Ten minutes later he slid in next to John as he was talking to some of his agents. John paid him no mind as he finished giving instructions. "I want everyone who doesn't need to here to clear out. The city police will be arriving soon to start preparing the area for the ceremony and I don't want to have to answer to them." John commanded, and his agents nodded there heads and scattered, getting anything they had brought stowed away. "What ceremony?" asked Conan. John just smiled before saying, "Just wait and watch."


	10. Epilogue

Conan watched on from street level as the final preparations were put into place. He was amazed by all that was going on. And he wasn't the only one. "Wow this is amazing." Conan looked to see Rachel watching everything going on with the rest of the crew. He was happy that she was happy. When they had arrived a half-hour ago, she had been a mixture of worried and angry with him. The rest of the gang had been just annoyed that he had managed to slip away unnoticed again. "It's about to get packed." Conan turned to see John approaching. And he wasn't kidding, the area was getting packed. He watched as a contingent of Police Officers and Firefighters gathered at the top of the ramp, before slowly walking down both sides of it, creating a human pathway.

The notes of Amazing Grace started sounding and Conan looked to see a man he could have mistaken for the Scottish Guard coming down the ramp, bagpipes in hand. He could help but feel a chill race threw his bones. For a moment, he could have sworn he felt, nae saw ghost like figures intermingling with the crowd, who as far as Conan could tell, had tears in their eyes. He could tell that this anniversary ceremony was very special to the city of New York, if not the nation, judging by the number of the T.V. Camera's there. The man with the pipes had made it to the the center of the memorial, a reflecting pool to his left and right. A bell tolled somewhere, signifying a moment of quiet. Conan looked up to see the sun starting to reach street level on the tower. As it it street level, the whole building started to glow. The glowing light of the building started bouncing of the windows of other buildings. Looking down, the reflecting pools themselves were glowing. Looking up, for a brief moment, Conan would have sworn that he saw the original towers, standing proudly once again over the city. Then the bell rang again. The buildings stopped glowing. The twins he was looking at vanished. Stunned, he looked around, trying to see if anyone else had seen. What he found was a city very much united in it's remorse and memories.

Conan couldn't help but look inside himself and realize that his own problem, no matter how great he thought it was, could not possibly compare to what he realized this city, nea this nation had gone through. He realized this, and was forced to realize that he would always be lucky compared to other people..

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**Author's Note: I thank all those have read this. As i end this story, i dedicate it to the families of the lost on 9/11. May those still suffering find peace, and those constructing the memorial get there head out of there asses and get it done on time.**

**P.s. the prologue to the sequel to my next story, which may or may not end up being a sequel to this, will be up in the crossover section of Detective Conan and NCIS**

**EDIT: the next story may not be up for a few hours, depending on how long the site takes.  
**


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